On Thursday, the Somersworth Housing Authority is expected to take another step on the road to recovery when a new chairman is elected.

The action comes in the wake of the theft of what now seems to be somewhere between $800,000 to $900,000 from the authority by the late Lisa Reid, former fiscal director.

The editorial board here at Foster’s Daily Democrat lauds the efforts of board members to give the authority a fresh start on many fronts and in many ways.

Part of that fresh start plan recently included naming former SHA commissioner Marty Dumont to the board in the wake of Chairman Constance Margowski’s decision to resign earlier this month.

As Dumont told Foster’s, “I think we need to continue to move forward from this difficult time,” referencing a six-year period during which Reid siphoned off the money. “I think we’ve cleared the hurdle. We have so many great people and great employees with the Housing Authority — we need to keep pushing forward.”

Thursday’s naming of a new chairman, however, in no way marks the end of the road for SHA recovery efforts. Much still needs to be done, especially restoring public faith in the board’s work.

To that end, the editorial board here at Foster’s Daily Democrat urges Beth Salinger to resign her position as longtime SHA director. While there is no indication of complicity on Salinger’s part, the fact remains that she was in charge as Reid stole funds from the SHA. It was under her watch that Reid was allowed sole control of authority accounts that gave her an apparently unfettered ability to rob the authority almost blind.

While a new audit firm has made recommendations for an overhaul of the authority’s financial practices and the loopholes Reid used to steal funds closed, the need for renewed public trust and confidence in the SHA is paramount. Foster’s believes that Salinger’s resignation along with significant changes on the housing authority board will go a long way in making the SHA whole again.

But make no mistake, Salinger’s resignation will not end the challenges for the SHA board of commissioners.

Still outstanding are recovery efforts from Reid’s family, after her suicide sparked by the discovery of her thefts. As these words are written, an investigation continues into exactly what assets the family may still own as a result of Reid’s actions. These potentially include Florida time shares and/or condominiums, a Jeep, a recreational vehicle and, more recently suspected, an online trading account, as well as funds pumped into the family business.

There is also the issue of why earlier audits did not uncover Reid’s thefts or the flaws in the SHA’s financial accounting systems that allowed Reid so much control over the authority’s finances. This leaves open the possibility of recovering funds from anyone who previously conducted what may be deemed flawed audits.

All in all, this means a newly reconstituted management structure will need to stay focused on further recovery efforts and fine tuning SHA financial management practices — something best done under new leadership, both of the board and the SHA’s ongoing operations, currently charged to Salinger.